LAUSR

The influence of alloying on the magnitude and the sign of the volume effect of the strain-induced martensitic transformation in high-nitrogen austenitic steel is analyzed. The volume effect of the martensitic transformation in such steels as a result of plastic deformation is shown to be dependent on the nitrogen and manganese contents and to be negative, leading to the formation of tensile stresses. This fact distinguishes high-nitrogen austenitic steels from traditional austenitic steels, for which this volume effect is always positive and determines the formation of compressive stresses which compensate the tensile stresses of a thermal origin.